When
discussing the Tree of Life what is interesting is the amount of
symbolism borrowed between
the three centers suggesting a common source from deep in the
Paleolithic. Most likely this deeply ancient symbolism was spread
during the Neolithic by the shamans. These early groups radiated
out from the fertile crescent carrying the god/human culture that was
the wellspring of civilization. Below are examples of the Tree of Life
from Sumer, Babylon/Assyria, Urartu, and the Indus Valley. All
shared some common elements such as the cosmic pole, bell jar shape,
the lattice and the fruit/leaves. Almost always is the tree being
attended to by one or two genies (celestial guardians), mythical
figures or kings. These attending figures indubitably have wings - the
sign of divinity. The solar winged disk usually hovers above.

The lattice
pattern
is an abstract rendering of the branches in the Sumerian Tree. It
becomes a more definite pattern in the Babylonian and Assyrian Tree. In
the vine tree style each branch becomes a single extension from the
core ending in a fruit.
The cosmic
pole
is the trunk of the Tree. This pole became the staff of the caduceus
and the axis
mundi
of the World Pillar.
The bell
jar shape
is one of the distinctive features of the Tree. It shows up in all
Mesopotamian cultures and in the Harappan culture of the Indus Valley.
It does not, however, appear as such in Egyptian renderings.
The Tree always has fruit
or foliage.
The fruit is usually rather large and plump and sometimes looking like
a pine
cone . The fruit as a pine cone
was its most popular depiction even unto the Greeks and Romans.

When
looking at the five images of the Tree we can see the shared elements:

1
Sumerian:
Genii, Pole, Lattice, Bell shape, Fruit and not shown but above the
solar winged disk2
Babylonian/Assyrian: Genii, Pole, Lattice, Bell shape, Foliage and not
shown but above the solar winged disk3
Urartian:
Genii, Pole, Bell shape and Fruit4
Indus
Valley: Bell shape, Foliage and the god in the tree5 Labeled
Sumerian but much more likely Assyrian: Genii (King), Pole,
Lattice, Bell shape/god in the tree, Fruit and the god as the solar
winged diskOne
other
surprising element is the "god within" the tree from the
Indus Valley. In the Osiris legend, Osiris an Egyptian god murdered by
his brother Set and within a coffin is tossed into the Mediterranean
when on the shores of Phoenicia he becomes encased within a tree. Also
as the axis
mundi
which is
another Tree of Life symbol the king is the tree (as in the
interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream - "That tree, O king, is you"
Daniel 4:10-22). In the Indus Valley the
pipal tree is linked to Krishna. For in the Bhagavad Gita, he
says,"Among trees I am the ashvattha" - pipal in Sanskrit.

The
illustration to the left is Assyrian. The genii or more
likely the king
is within a bell shape. The tree displays the fruit, lattice
and
cosmic pole. The solar winged disk of Assyria floats above.

The
bell shape
surrounding the tree may have influenced the conical
shape of the omphalos stones of Greece and elsewhere. This shape is
manifested in the Shiva lingua of Hinduism whose birthplace has
been credited to the Indus Valley. What the bell shape of the Tree of
Life represents is a
matter of speculation. It may be iconic of glowing or shining as in The
Shining
Ones or an emanating life force. A tree that glowed would mean
it would have bioluminescence like a firefly. The Mayans believed that
it did have some type radiating power or force. Whatever it represents
it
is an
important feature depicting the Tree of Life.

As
archaeologists look at these images of the genii,
they have speculated that the cone shaped fruit is a sponge for the
purpose of sprinkling holy water on the tree, a type of ritual
cleansing. The fruit is sometimes called a pine cone as it sometimes
has been depicted by the artists of their time. The picture farthest to
the left shows the fruit as this so-called pine cone. We know that the genii is
picking the fruit of
immortality to put into his
pouch. The illustration second to the left is an example of the
stylized
vine-tree rendering of the Tree of Life. It clearly shows the fruit
drawn as a pine cone. The next pictures is from India and was labeled
maize. It too is another example of the fruit from East Indian art.
Also note the rosette design on both wrist bracelets
which is also associated with the Tree of Life - yet another sacred
symbol.If
you look at the shape of the fruit it is almost always in a football or
oval shape. Sometimes the "fleur" is also attached (which in the
fleur-de-lys the center shape is also of this elongated
shape).

The
legend of the Tree of Life and it's fruit of immortality can be seen in
the legends of other cultures. In ancient Greece there is the story of
the Hesperides, three guardian nymphs who protect a tree in a garden
that grows golden apples of immortality. Also in this garden is a
dragon which is another symbol of the serpent. In Norse mythology Idun
is the keeper of the apples of immortality. What we know of Norse
mythology is from Icelandic manuscripts. In one Sumerian legend Inanna
and Dumuzi had fruit trees and one of them was an apple tree.

"My
well-stocked garden
of the plain,
My barley
growing high in its furrow,
My apple
tree which bears fruit up to its crown,
He is
lettuce planted by the water."

It is not hard to notice
that most of the time there seems to be two figures tending the tree.
There were two personalities that protected and were sustained by the
tree and, of course, they would be Van and his modified human companion
Amadon. The image of the Tree of Life persisted with kings attending to
it. In fact the tree is associated with superhuman kingship. In some depictions of
the tree the guardians are eagle headed genii although some call this
representation a hawk. The term griffin is sometimes used to describe
these guardians.

“The
heavenly origin of kingship is already attested in the earliest
Mesopotamian cultures ["When the kingship was lowered from heaven the
kingship was in Eridu"]. In both Sumerian and Babylonian mythology, it
is expressed allegorically with the image of a tree planted upon earth
by the mother goddess, Inanna/Ishtar. The sacred tree, usually
represented in the form of a stylized palm tree growing on a mountain,
is the most common decorative motif in Assyrian royal iconography. It
occurs in imperial architecture, on seals and weapons of the ruling
elite, on royal jewelry and elsewhere. The walls of the palace of king
Ashurnasirpal II (883-859 B.C.) in Kalhu (modern Nimrud) were covered
with more than 400 representations of the sacred tree.” (http://www.bib-arch.org/bswb_AO/bswbao0604kprdg3.html)
(http://www.gatewaystobabylon.com/introduction/sonsofgod.htm)

There is a description of
King Solomon building his House of the Lord in I Kings chapter 6.I
Kings 6:1 "He carved all the walls of the house round about with carved
figures of cherubim and palm trees and open flowers, in the inner and
outer rooms."In other verses it is
stated the cherubim are a pair and on the doors they and the tree are
covered in gold. This theme of the tree with the cherubim is
repeated throughout the temple many time over.

Fleur-de-lysThe
French symbol of royalty to the far left is known asthe
Fleur-de-lys. It
originated with the first of the Merovingian kings of France. This
symbol comes out of Sumeria and is directly related to the Tree of
Life. It can be traced all the way back to the Sumerian god Enki. In
the image second from the left he is holding a
pot of flowing waters with the symbol above it. This is also a
maritime symbol which always
indicates north. The
next illustration is from Urartu which clearly shows
the fluer attached
to the fruit. Next is a Phoenician
drawing
of the Tree of Life. Notice the fleur at the center top. This is a
style known as the vortical tree as is the following Assyrian tree. The
final
example of the fleur is from a piece of metal work from Urartu. It dons
the helmet of a genii. The
Fleur-de-lys has been so widely used that it is considered
classical.

Rosette
Then we have the rosette. It too is a symbol
connected to the Tree of Life. It has eight spoke-like leaves just like
the symbol for
the sun god Shamash. Standard rosette design
with center dark pit to the
far left. Next is Urartian
metal work with a band of rosettes. The
last image is from a Sumerian seal
showing rosette's connection to the tree.
This symbol is closely associated with the goddess Inanna and of course
to the Tree of Life. This is a pan-Mesopotamian symbol.

"The
rosette was the most common decorative “temple
symbol” throughout the ancient lands, prevalent in
Mesopotamia, Western Asia, Anatolia, Crete and Greece. It is an
accepted view that the rosette as a temple symbol was an outgrowth of a
celestial phenomenon. (A sun circled by its satellites), or solar
eclipses."
(http://www.strayreality.com/Lanis_Strayreality/where_did_they_come_from.htm)

The
rational for the rosette being derived from a solar phenomenon is due
to interpretation of Paleolithic
rock paintings and petroglyphs. Theseare some of the first
images made by early man.

"In the
present essay we have documented that glaring anomalies distinguish the
earliest iconography associated with the various celestial bodies.
Prehistoric petroglyphs from around the world consistently portray the
ancient sun-god in a fashion that bears little resemblance to the
appearance of the current solar orb. Among the most common petroglyphs
are those which show the solar disc equipped with a central dot, an
eight-spoked body, a rosette, and a pillar-like appendage. The fact
that the very same images appear amongst the earliest pictographs in
Sumeria, Egypt, and Mesoamerica not only confirms the stubborn
longevity of these sacred images, it offers some justification for the
view that a continuity of beliefs (e.g. astral worship) likewise
underlies the common images, thereby offering hope of discovering the
original significance of the prehistoric petroglyphs upon analysis of
their historical counterparts."
(http://www.kronia.com/library/journals/rockart.txt)

The
Inanna Connection"The cuneiform tablets of
Sumer display eight-pointed impressions made thousands of years ago by
a stylus pushed into wet clay, and we know today that these
eight-pointed impressions signify Inanna, Goddess of Morning and
Evening. It seems fitting that the impressions of this ancient written
language bring to mind images of both flower-like rosettes and pointed
stars, for images that capture both the intensity of a star and the
subtle delicacies of a flower reflect well the Goddess' paradoxical
nature. In this alone, Inanna is like Kali, the Hindu goddess often
called "Mother of the Universe" or "The Divine Mother", as Kali's
magical diagram, or yantra, contains the eight-petaled lotus. Further,
Inanna's powers as a goddess with her command of both the life-giving
and life-taking aspects of the universe, in addition to the physical
proximity of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers to the Indus Valley, tells
us that Inanna and Kali are related not by coincidence, but by a direct
tie of the Sumerian to the early Indian cultures."
(http://www.maabatakali.org/inanna.htm)

"The
eight-point rosette has long been identified as a symbol of Sumer's
Inanna, dating back at least 5300 years before present [Figures 1-2].
The iconographic link between Inanna and the eight-point rosette was
already well established by 3000 BCE.13 The rosette was incorporated
into game boards as early as those excavated from the Royal Tombs of
Sumer [Figure 3], circa 3000-2600 BCE.14"
(http://www.goddesschess.com/chessays/janigk.html)

Game board
Figure 3

The
subtitle of Watchers, Vanites and Adamites refers to those celestials
who were able to benefit from the Tree of Life and as the Sumerian
records show all three in some way were connected to this tree. The
Watchers (or as the Anunnaki) were connected to it through Dilmun the
garden of the gods where no one grew old. The Vanites through
Enki
and the Adamites were connected through Inanna.